2008 CBS Sportsline FREE Fantasy Baseball

From what I can tell, CBSSports.com is the only site right now that is actively taking registration for the 2008 fantasy baseball season. If anyone knows of other sites currently taking registration for FREE fantasy baseball, drop me a line in the comments below.

Word on the message board circuit is that ESPN’s online registration for 2008 fantasy baseball starts February 11. Other major players like Yahoo! and Fox Sports are still on the way.

CBS fantasy baseball has a strong offering on its plate for free fantasy baseball 2008. Choose from four different game styles: three Rotisserie options and a weekly, head-to-head option. You can also choose if you want a league universe that includes both the AL and the NL, or just one of the leagues.

I know the Roto All-Stars out there are going to hate me for this, but I prefer head-to-head play. I also like to have a full MLB player universe. Call me crazy, but I prefer picking up a win or loss against an opponent. Roto baseball, however, is very popular.

Of the three roto options CBS Sportsline fantasy baseball is offering in 2008, my personal favorite is Roto 5×5, where hitters and pitchers each have five statistical categories to accumulate stats (and earn points) for their team. 5×5 Rotisserie requires your team to be talented on both sides of the ball, and has two extra categories for statistics (runs for hitters, strikeouts for pitchers) when compared to traditional roto.

Roto-plus is my least favorite option for CBS Sports fantasy baseball because it lacks traditional categories for both hitters and pitchers. Team batting average, homeruns, and strikeouts are left out in Roto-plus.

If you’re looking to pay for your league, CBS Sportsline has a very customizable program. The cost of a private league is around $150 (though CBS does offer early bird registration discounts) . CBS Sportsline’s premium games range in price from $29.95 per team to $499.95 per team. Prize money varies from $150 for the gold league to $3500 for the “double-diamond” league.

I operated a CBS Sportsline members fantasy league in 2007, and had some small issues with the system. I was allowed to customize quite a lot in my league, but could not set limits on the amount of adds and drops. In a head-to-head league that allows daily lineup changes, this allows all team owners to add and drop players daily without any repercussions.

If CBSSports.com is your home for free fantasy baseball in 2008, play their 5×5 Rotisserie game. My previous troubles with add/drop player restrictions on CBS Sportsline were a real headache, and the limit of 162 games per position for players in fantasy roto baseball eliminate that problem.